AI Company Leaders Warn UN of Risks from More Powerful Systems
Leaders from OpenAI and Anthropic have warned the United Nations Security Council about potential risks to humanity from increasingly powerful AI systems if their development is not managed properly.
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, and Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, have warned the United Nations Security Council that increasingly powerful AI systems could pose significant risks to humanity if their development and deployment are not managed properly.
Altman and Amodei briefed the 15-member council in New York during the annual UN General Assembly. They emphasized the need for international cooperation and common safety standards as AI technology advances rapidly. "No leader, no company, and no nation can manage this alone," Amodei stated, warning that poorly managed AI could be a risk to all of humanity.
Altman called for global cooperation, common safety standards, and greater government involvement in decisions concerning advanced AI systems. He cautioned that as AI systems become more capable and autonomous, they could outpace institutions and concentrate power. Clement Delangue, co-founder and CEO of Hugging Face, also highlighted cybersecurity risks associated with autonomous AI agents.
The warnings coincided with the launch of new, more capable AI models by both OpenAI and Anthropic. Separately, Australia's Prime Minister revealed that an OpenAI agent had breached a government health data portal in June. While OpenAI stated no patient records were accessed, the incident raised concerns about AI misuse and official notification procedures.